


Free Falling

by xyliane



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Buildering, Cityscapes and Skyscrapers and Heights, Climbing, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 04:12:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9160789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xyliane/pseuds/xyliane
Summary: “Why do you climb?” Gon asks.What a stupid question. “Why are you asking now?”Gon kicks his legs off the side of the platform. “I think it’s interesting! Nothing ever looks the same from up here as it does down there. It’s the same for you too, right Killua?”





	

Yorknew looks prettier at night.

It’s not just Killua’s opinion. During the day, Yorknew’s just another city. It’s got parks and bars and schools and hotels, aligned in neat rows along paved streets. It’s pretty enough. It’s ugly enough. In some ways, it doesn’t feel like it’s alive, but like it’s a machine full of tiny cogs in tinier worlds marching in file from home to work and back again. During the day, Killua ricochets through the machine, starched collars and expensive watches as good as chains to keep him in place. He has to pretend Killua Zoldyck is only who his parents want him to be, the up-and-coming heir to the Zoldyck dynasty who aces his tests and leads school clubs and finds company stock fascinating and not mind-numbingly boring.

When Killua was younger, Illumi had a picture of the Zoldyck skyscraper in the middle of the day, stark white and steel and entirely emotionless. The day Killua was named heir, he drew all over the picture with Alluka’s favorite markers, turning it into a barrage of color and noise. What the city _would_ be, if it was his home. Not that it could ever be.

There’s a new photograph there now, as pristine as ever before. As much as Killua wants to change his surroundings, his family will never let him, not from where they stand.

But at night, Yorknew _shines_. Immense, dark, dangerous, and enthralling in ways that the day casts constant shadows on, the night transforms ordinary street lights into the perfect stepping stone to hopping over a fence or a seemingly featureless facade into a maze of hand holds and toe hooks. All of the buildings that seem like clogged up boxes during the day turn into looming monsters with a thousand flickering eyes looking to be explored.

To Killua, they’re demanding to be climbed. At first, it is short climbs, crawling clumsily hand over hand across family homes out of town or sneaking out an uncovered staircase in one of the dozens of buildings under construction. It’s exactly what he shouldn’t be doing as Killua Zoldyck, and that makes the challenge all the more alluring, climbing higher and faster and better, as much as he can, just to get away from _Killua Zoldyck_. 

Before long, Killua is no stranger to breaking into areas his mother and Illumi would hate to find him, unfinished construction projects or fifty stories up a sheer facade both intriguing in completely different ways. When he’s back on Kukuroo Mountain, he shows Alluka all of the pictures he’s taken, giving her a sense of what might be out there for them both.

He’ll take her climbing one day. He’s promised them both.

Killua first met Gon at night, what seems forever ago, when Killua’d been climbing because he was frustrated and alone and so angry he couldn’t keep his grip for more than half a moment. That a boy in a terribly green jacket with blinding orange reflective stripes was already at the ledge should have pissed him off. But when Killua got close enough to yell at him, the other boy simply smiled and held out a hand. Killua hadn’t needed the help up, and Gon hadn’t needed the advice on where to go next, but working together made everything so much more interesting.

Killua’s met a few other climbers, people who taught him how to do a proper pinch grip or gave him tips on problems to try when out of town. But once they learned who he was, what he has access to, they only wanted to use him because he could get them to the end without any of the work. He could open doors rather than climb around them, just because he’s a Zoldyck and not because he’s one of the best climbers.

Gon’s not like that. Gon _wants_ the challenge, seeks it out just as much as Killua with twice as much stubborn determination. They’ve gotten into places Killua’s never dreamed of, seen the city from half-rusted cranes and a giant bird nest at the top of the Nostrade complex. And never once has Gon asked to use Killua’s cheat code of a family. That wouldn’t be _interesting._

Gon has a habit of making things more interesting.

A sharp poke to Killua’s forehead knocks him out of his thoughts and almost off the ledge. “You’re thinking too hard,” Gon says.

“And you’re not thinking hard enough!” Killua glares at Gon, who’s all innocent brown eyes and big smiles in the flashing red lights. “I could’ve fallen off, and then I’d just be a bloody mess on the sidewalk.”

Gon pushes himself to his feet, balancing easily on the hand-wide ledge as he stretches. “Nah,” he says, arms high above his head. His stupid green jacket creaks a little with the movement. “You’re too good at staying on your feet, Killua.”

“I’d pull you down with me,” Killua vows. “Splat on the ground. Guts everywhere. My dad would sue the building. Your aunt would cry a lot.”

Gon grimaces. “I don’t think so. Aunt Mito would only be upset because she’d want to throw us off the building again.” But his smile is back almost immediately, and Killua can’t help but be glad for that. “The important thing is we’d be together!”

For the best friend Killua could have ever dreamed of, Gon is so stupid sometimes. Killua’s probably just as stupid, though, because he doesn’t want to be apart from Gon, not ever. “And we’d also be dead,” he says.

Gon shrugs. “I guess. But we have to climb up to the top first, right? That’s why we’re here. You wanted to climb up!”

Killua leans back, tipping his head backwards almost until it hits the roof. This rooftop is Killua’s favorite view in Yorknew, and someone went and put a massive comm tower on top of it. Open metal latticework promises tricky holds especially with how cold tonight is, especially with the hollow center of the tower making the wind whistle even from the rooftop. For the summit, a rickety-looking wooden platform loops all the way around the top. Killua can only imagine how great the city looks from up there. It is only natural he and Gon see it together.

He flips himself upright, balancing on the balls of his feet like Gon. Standing on equal footing, Killua’s a bit taller, and Gon’s eyes grin upward in a way that makes Killua’s heart feel like it’s too big for his chest. More often, Gon makes him feel this way, like he could take on the world for that smile. Killua wants something, but thinking about it causes his thoughts to spin in vertigo.

For now, there is a clear goal in mind. “I bet I can beat you to the top.”

Gon takes off for the crane almost before Killua finishes speaking, the crunch of heavy boots the only sound other than his giggling. Killua darts after him, looping around the crane and leaping up to the first hold on the other side. He won’t lose to Gon, not this time.

Gon’s already scrambling up the tower by the time Killua reaches its base, jumping straight onto it and wincing at the chill of the metal. He takes half a second to reassess his route, going around the back of the tower to find a better grip. Gon’s trying to take a shortcut, one that he’ll soon find is going to cost him this race badly when he realizes the problem. Sometimes Gon wants to win so badly he forgets to look ahead to see what the future might hold, leaving Killua an opening to pick up the slack.

At almost halfway up, the wind starts to pick up, whipping Killua’s hair into his face and swallowing whatever it is that Gon shouts across the gap. He bounces up past the next hold before hollering “WHAT.”

Gon tries to yell again, before screwing his mouth shut and pointing upwards. There’s a massive bar above him, blocking his path from the very top. Killua nods—that is why he avoided that route in the first place. He’s almost at the platform on his side, anyways, and if Gon can just reach across once he’s up there, it’ll work out fine.

Of course, Gon doesn’t wait. He scrambles around the bar, relying on his boots to keep him gripped against the metal as he flips into the hollow center of the structure. Killua halts his climb entirely to yell at him about being a damn idiot, but it doesn’t stop Gon from grinning.

Despite the pause, Killua makes the final push to the platform before Gon can finish finding a new hold. He pulls himself upwards, sneakers making a solid thump as they hit wood and making the whole platform creak unsteadily. Killua lets out a whoop, pumping his fist in the air with the thrill of victory. It’s not often either he or Gon gets a solid upper-hand in their endless competitions, and Killua looks forward to rubbing this one in Gon’s face for a long time coming.

But it’s no fun if there’s no one to be victorious over. Glancing back down, he can see Gon scrambling around inside, still too far to make a reach for the platform on his own. There’s only one way he’s going to make it anytime soon, so Killua reaches out. “Gon, here—!”

Before Killua can finish speaking, Gon is in midair, arms flung up towards the sky. His hand slams into Killua’s, warm and solid against the wind.

Killua drags him up to the platform, Gon scrambling up the last few inches and toppling both of them over. Gon sprawls on top of Killua, spiky hair tickling his nose and body draped over each other with Gon’s elbow in Killua’s stomach and Killua’s knees tangled in Gon’s. It’s entirely uncomfortable, but it’s warm, and being so close together feels almost like a fog over his thoughts.

“You’re unbelievable,” he says.

He feels Gon’s laugh straight through his own chest, dancing brown eyes all that Killua can see. “Only because you let me be.”

He’d barely have to move to kiss Gon.

Instead, he shoves Gon off him, ignoring how the idiot is still laughing joyously about nothing in particular. He can’t kiss Gon. They’re _friends_. Best friends. But it doesn’t stop Killua from wanting.

Beneath them, Yorknew sprawls outward, the late night illuminated by twinkling lights mapping out the streets far below. Killua feels like he could string them all together into a crown, or capture them in a jar like fireflies.

“Hey Killua…”

His best friend is staring at him, head tilted to the side. Somehow, it feels like Gon’s reflecting the skyline all in his eyes, a calm smile on his face like they’ve got the whole world laid out in front of them ready to be seen, ready for them to explore.

“Why do you climb?” Gon asks.

What a stupid question. “Why are you asking now?”

Gon kicks his legs off the side of the platform. “I think it’s interesting! Nothing ever looks the same from up here as it does down there. It’s the same for you too, right Killua?”

Killua edges over until they’re shoulder to shoulder, feet dangling over an almost infinite open space. He’s never put this in words before, and it doesn’t come out easily. When he finally speaks, it is slow, picking his words carefully. “I guess, it’s because I want to. No one is telling me it’s good for me, and my parents hate it, but whenever I’m climbing it just feels right. It’s what I choose to do.” _And I choose to do it with you_ goes unspoken, but it echoes in Killua’s heart nonetheless.

Maybe Gon can hear the thought too, because he threads their fingers together, anchoring the two of them to the platform. “Yeah! If I’m going to do something, I’m doing it all the way, because I want to do it. And I want to do it with you!”

Killua tightens his own grip on Gon, refusing to look at him and his blinding smile. “You’re so embarrassing.”

They sit in silence for a while, comfortable with each other and the distance under their feet. “So? This is what you wanted, right? How does it look?” Gon asks.

With anyone else, at any other point, Killua would have dodged the question or lied outright. Or maybe not—Yorknew might not be his home, but it’s where he is, and at night, there’s nothing like it. It deserves an honest answer.

“It’s beautiful,” Killua says, letting the words flow out and onto the wind. Gon leans against him, refusing to let go of their hands. Killua would never want that, either.

Killua wants…

A light flickers on in the building next door, probably a late-night guard moving around in an empty office. Gon starts to stand, forcing Killua to tug him back down to the platform. “They’ll see us,” he hisses, and Gon laughs sheepishly.

“Thanks, Killua,” he says. “I guess we should get back then?”

“Probably.” He fishes out his phone, motioning for Gon to get going. “You go first. I need to take a photo for Alluka.”

“Alright.” Gon half-tumbles off the side of the platform, disappearing towards the roof while Killua lines up the right shot. He gives himself an extra moment to look over the city again. It’s not like this is the last time he’ll be up on this rooftop, but Killua wants to capture this image in his memories forever.

The light next door flashes again, shaking Killua out of his thoughts. He pockets his phone and slides off the edge of the platform, swinging by his fingertips until he can leap from platform back to scaffolding. A gust of icy wind makes the chill metal slip beneath his fingers, and he scrambles for a hold. By the time he’s halfway down, his hands feel numb and his knees ache from where he keeps bumping into odd protrusions.

“Killua!”

He glances down, Gon’s grin flashing in the flickering city lights. He holds his arms out like he’s expecting Killua to fall right into them—and Killua isn’t going to turn that down.

Killua leans away from the scaffolding and lets go.

It takes half a heartbeat to realize that this might not have been the best idea.

Before he’s able to think anything other than _oh shit_ Killua’s at the roof and Gon catches him—or at least cushions his fall enough so that they both go toppling onto the roof rather than breaking half the bones in their bodies. Gon lands heavily on his back with a thud that the guards can probably hear all the way in the room next door, and laughter bursts out of Killua with most of the air in his lungs.

“Caught you,” Gon gasps out, and Killua can’t grin wide enough.

“ _I_ got _you_ , _”_ he says. “I win again, Freecss.”

Gon smiles breathlessly. “This time you do,” he says, and gently pushes Killua’s hair out of his eyes, warm hand lingering against wind-bitten skin. Killua abruptly realizes how close his nose is to Gon’s, their breath mingling in white puffs in the frozen air. He can practically count the freckles dusting Gon’s nose like tiny stars.

The night seems to pause for a moment before Gon says, “I really want to kiss you.”

Killua’s heart tries to thump out of his chest, and he knows he’d be blushing if they weren’t in the dark. “Gon—” he tries to say, but his best friend’s name comes out strangled, caught in a cascade of emotions, of _I want I want I want_ that’s pounded at Killua for so long he doesn’t know how to let them go.

“Can I, Killua?” Gon asks.

Killua doesn’t trust his words anymore. But Gon’s waiting for an answer, a hopeful smile on his face like he’s offering a mountain of chocolate or the first summit on a rickety tower. So he closes the almost nonexistent distance and kisses Gon first.

It feels like free falling.

——————

(Alluka does like the picture, but not as much as the one Gon took of Killua, a small smile on his face as he looks over the city. Killua wishes the people he loves weren’t so embarrassing.)

**Author's Note:**

> I, who have gone climbing rocks once and buildings never, am totally qualified to write this fic. also the videos builderers post? definitely vertigo-causing. it's the sort of adrenaline junkie thing I can definitely see these boys doing all the time.
> 
> [crossposted from tumblr](https://xyliane.tumblr.com/post/154945252803/free-falling) so come and yell with me about this show. and happy new year!


End file.
